Dive Brief:
- A Ventura California civil grand jury report says county hospitals' transition to electronic health records lacked preparation and independent review.
- The $50-million transition involves two hospitals and 40 clinics run by the Ventura County Health Care Agency. The county is paying $19 million over ten years to Cerner Corporation to operate and monitor the system.
- A previous grand jury report in May 2014 said the transition caused inefficient and delayed care, but county officials stand by how they handled the transition. "The fact is we have a brand new system we put into place that streamlined our patient care," said Barry Fisher, director of the Health Care Agency. "It has streamlined our billing processes."
Dive Insight:
Although the transition planning started in 2007, the grand jury report said the Health Care Agency didn't arrange for enough independent review of the project and lacked an effective plan to reduce risks. After implementation, there were frequent crashes and prescription label issues took nine months to resolve. (There were no reports of harm to patients.)
Agency officials said medical records were still available when the system wasn't working. The grand jury recommended new policies to ensure more review and risk management to projects and that the county hire more IT employees.